Baroness Karren Brady CBE

The First Lady Of Football

A successful businesswoman in her own right, Baroness Karren Brady CBE became a household name following her appearance on the BBC series The Apprentice as Lord Alan Sugar’s aide. A renowned business management speaker, a champion of women in business, Baroness Brady has continued to develop and manage her own business portfolio, building ties with the British government and British sporting institutions.

Dubbed the ‘First Lady of Football’, Baroness Brady became the youngest female managing director of a British football club when, in 1993 at the age of just 23, she was made MD of Birmingham City FC. She is frequently called upon to appear at sporting after dinner speaker events, whilst her genuine passion for football and interest in the commercial side of British sports makes her a fascinating business speaker.

One of the most influential businesswomen currently working in the UK, Baroness Karren Brady CBE is an expert business management speaker with experience running large establishments and managing hundreds of employees. She is highly respected by those across the business sector for her successful navigation of the often difficult transition between private and public limited company’s and is particularly well-known for her skills with profit development and corporate turnaround.

Beginning her career on a graduate scheme at Saatchi & Saatchi, Baroness Karren Brady CBE did not attend university and gained her business skills entirely through personal experience. Baroness Brady successfully managed Birmingham City for fifteen years, eventually selling the club for £82,000,000 to Carlson Young.

City had thrived under Karren’s guidance, significantly increasing turnover and even garnering more public popularity during her leadership. Whilst at Birmingham City, Baroness Brady was frequently called upon to appear as a business management speaker and share with fans and shareholders her secret’s to the club’s newfound success.

Baroness Karren Brady has gone on to have further success when she joined London’s West Ham United in 2010, her pledge to keep the once financially ruined business from facing further turmoil stands to this day and, under Brady’s captaincy, West Ham have become one of the most commercially successful football clubs in the UK.

As vice chairperson Karren Brady CBE’s most notable success at West Ham thus far is arguably the anchor concessionaires she secured that will allow the club to make the recently constructed Olympic Stadium their match day ground as of the start of the 2016 season. Karren is a popular guest at West Ham parties and events and often appears as an after dinner speaker at the clubs most elite functions.

Alongside her involvement in football, Karren has a number of other business involvements, including commitments to and investments in Channel 4 television, Syco, Arcadia and Mothercare. Her work as an advisor and business speaker on The Apprentice saw her engaging with, analysing and often berating the work of the hopeful contestants. A fierce and highly competent woman Karren’s own knowledge and experience of the business sector ensured that she not only gained the respect of all contestants but also that she became notorious amongst the viewing audience.

Admired for her dedication and resilience Baroness Brady made further headlines when, in 2006, she underwent emergency neurosurgery to remove a potentially fatal aneurysm. Karren continues to draw strength and inspiration from her experience and in her work as an after dinner speaker frequently discusses the experience and the way in which it further emboldened her as a business owner.

Utterly dedicated to business Baroness Karren Brady CBE is the Small Business Ambassador to Conservative Prime Minster David Cameron, she has worked closely with the British government, offering her expertise and experience as the foundation for many of their most influential business policies. In September 2014, for her work as a business speaker and government advisor, Brady was made a Conservative Life Peer, becoming Baroness Brady of Knightsbridge in the City of Westminster.

To book Baroness Karren Brady CBE as the business management speaker for your corporate event, function or conference, simply contact the Champions Speakers agency by emailing agent@championsukplc.com or by calling a booking agent directly on 0207 1010 553.

When at corporate events, Baroness Karren Brady is known to cover the following topics: